Category Archives: Colosseum

This was taken a few years back…before my love of HDR’s. What I would give to get back to Rome and spend a week HDR’ing! Rome is in my top 5 places to visit in the world. I could photograph the Colosseum for hours! Hopefully I can get to Italy next year. I still have yet to visit Tuscany, Venice, Florence, Pisa, etc…. Italy is one great place 2 explore! As for Rome, it is a big city. It seems as though everything is a 10 minute taxi ride away. That equals alot of Euro! A tour would be fun! Lots to see and do in Rome. A typical hop on/hop off bus has these stops…

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A few year back maybe most of us watched the movie Gladiator with Russell Crowe. The Colosseum must have been a spectacle to see back in the days! Here is a view while walking into the arena. You can see some tourists in the background to give you a size reference. They said 50,000 people could fill the arena. An amazing feat of engineering and beauty! These days we only see a small percent of what was back in the day. I enjoyed the tour and the incredible views.

Info from the web: The Colosseum was used to host gladiatorial shows as well as a variety of other events. The shows, called munera, were always given by private individuals rather than the state. They had a strong religious element but were also demonstrations of power and family prestige, and were immensely popular with the population. Another popular type of show was the animal hunt, or venatio. This utilized a great variety of wild beasts, mainly imported from Africa and the Middle East, and included creatures such as rhinoceros, hippopotamuses, elephants, giraffes, aurochs, wisents, barbary lions, panthers, leopards, bears, caspian tigers, crocodiles and ostriches. Battles and hunts were often staged amid elaborate sets with movable trees and buildings. Such events were occasionally on a huge scale; Trajan is said to have celebrated his victories in Dacia in 107 with contests involving 11,000 animals and 10,000 gladiators over the course of 123 days.

Rome is a must visit in one’s lifetime. With the Colosseum and the Vatican…thats a few days well spent right there! Ciao!!

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This week celebrates Places 2 Explore 6 month anniversary! Its been a great pleasure to keep this blog going and I plan on keeping P2E running for many years to come! This photo is the one I used for the header above (just with a little extra photoshop work)! Rome is just a magical place to visit and it a must if you can!

Here is some info on the Colosseum from the web: The Colosseum or Roman Coliseum is an elliptical amphitheatre in the center of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. It is one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and Roman engineering.

Occupying a site just east of the Roman Forum, its construction started between 70 and 72 AD under the emperor Vespasian and was completed in 80 AD under Titus, with further modifications being made during Domitian’s reign.

Capable of seating 50,000 spectators,the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles. As well as the gladiatorial games, other public spectacles were held there, such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine. It has been estimated that about 500,000 people and over a million wild animals died in the Colosseum games.

Although in the 21st century it stays partially ruined due to damage caused by devastating earthquakes and stone-robbers, the Colosseum is an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome and its breakthrough achievements in earthquake engineering. It is one of Rome’s most popular tourist attractions and still has close connections with the Roman Catholic Church, as each Good Friday the Pope leads a torchlit “Way of the Cross” procession around the various levels of the amphitheater.

I took a guided tour this day of the Colosseum…it was fantastic. History does live amongst us. I didn’t see Russell Crowe this day during my visit. Maybe next time? Enjoy!